1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a microorganism of Corynebacterium genus having resistance to kanamycin and capable of producing L-lysine and a method of producing L-lysine using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Coryneform bacteria are microorganisms that belong to the genus Corynebacterium and Brevibacterium. 
L-lysine is an essential amino acid widely used for animal feed, medical supplies and foods. In particular, the amount of L-lysine used in 2004 was reported to be about 0.8 million tons and demand for L-lysine is expected to continuously increase by an average of about 10% yearly in the future.
L-lysine is produced by direct fermentation using a microorganism such as E. coli, Corynebacteria or the like, and thus development of producing microorganisms having enhanced yield or L-lysine productivity enhanced by improvement of a fermentation process have a large economical effect.
L-lysine is produced by known methods using bacteria such as various kinds of auxotrophic mutant, various kinds of bacteria resistant to drugs, various kinds of bacteria sensitive to drugs and various kinds of bacteria resistant to antibiotics. Of these methods, it is known that a method using bacteria resistant to antibiotics includes a method using various bacteria resistant to several antibiotics such as rifampicin and streptomycin, etc. (see, for example U.S. Pat. No. 4,623,623).
However, bacteria that have resistance to kanamycin, a kind of aminoglycoside-based antibiotic, and produce L-lysine have not been reported.
The inventors of the present invention conducted extensive research about a method of producing L-lysine using a microorganism of Corynebacterium genus by direct fermentation to reduce production costs of L-lysine and increase yield of L-lysine, and found that L-lysine productivity can be enhanced by giving the microorganism of Corynebacterium genus resistance to kanamycin, thus completing the present invention.